Often referred to as a Partner’s Partner, Alumnus Ed Maier died on June 20, 2026. Ed was a devoted husband and loving father and grandfather and touched the lives of so many. Ed was a faithful supporter of the Andersen Alumni Association. He provided valued guidance and contributed countless articles for quarterly newsletters. A full copy of his obituary can be found at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/dallas-tx/edward-maier-12938393
Throughout my nearly fifty-year career in business, I have had the opportunity to meet many people and learn countless things. In the first chapter of my business life, as a partner with Arthur Andersen, I worked on and led many teams. I eventually was in charge of one office, and later of a regional division that included over 1400 employees and partners. I am deeply grateful for those experiences. Beyond accounting and finance, I learned innumerable things about people and business; I had the chance to travel internationally for the first time in my life. I developed a much greater appreciation for the world around me and the variety of people in it. Since retiring from Arthur Andersen and the public accounting profession and beginning my second business life chapter, I have worked with many different people as an executive coach, a mentor, and a volunteer. These individuals have come from even more varied walks of life, businesses, organizations, and backgrounds. They, too, have added immeasurably to my experiences.
In conversations over the years, very often someone would say something like: “Why don't you write these ideas down in a book?” or “These are good thoughts. They helped me. You should write a book.” I would like to express my thanks for their appreciation and file the thought away. Then in 2010, our first grandchild was born. That set me to thinking.
I don't know very much about my grandfathers. I knew who they were; I knew what they did. But I really didn’t know anything about them. Then the accountant in me did the simple math. By the time my two grandchildren (2 arrived in 2014) are old enough to have a conversation with me about some of the topics in this book, I might not be around or able to engage in a worthwhile conversation with them. If I wanted my grandchildren to know more about me, I needed to do something to make that possible.
For several years, I had been putting some of my thoughts to paper for a newsletter supported by Arthur Andersen alums. So, I started with those and added additional thoughts and observations. The results are what you are about to read.
This book has no particular purpose, other than to share some of my points of view about different facets of business and organizational life, and to share them in a fashion that models the theme of the opening chapter—Think Straight. Talk Straight.® I am not “telling it like it is.” I am telling it like I think it is and believe it should be. As I repeat later in the chapter, this is one of the first principles of behavior I learned at Arthur Andersen. It has stayed with me ever since. It is my hope that a few ideas included in this book may resonate with you and my grandchildren just like the Think Straight. Talk Straight. principle impacted me all those years ago.
This book is not something you need to read cover to cover, although you certainly can. Look at the topics in the chapter list and select one based on what interests you or fulfills a need at this time. Read it and enjoy it. Each chapter is relatively short, and, I believe, an easy read. A principle I adopted a number of years ago from a Business Writing class told me to “write like I talk.” I am not sure I have fully achieved that, but along the way if I have any broken sentences, dangling participles, or faulty punctuation, I hope the spirit of the good sisters of Saint Dominic who taught me grammar school English will forgive me.
I appreciate the many suggestions and encouragement given to me over the years to write my thoughts down. I am thankful for the many relationships with others that have contributed to forming these thoughts. As you read them, I hope they provoke your own thinking and move you to action.
Enjoy!
Ed